Tree lighting system



May 20, 1941. A. A. QUANDEE ,5

TREE LIGHTING SYSTEM Filed Feb. 9, 1939 E and of a nature to be unsafe.

Patented May 20, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,242,597 TREELIGHTING SYSTEM Alvin A. Quandee, Chicago, 111. Application February 9,1939, Serial No. 255,552

2 Claims.

handling.

With the above objects in view, and any others which may suggestthemselves from the description to follow, a better understanding of thein-- vention may be had by reference to the accompanying drawing, inwhich- Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the system showing itsapplication;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a connector unit;

Fig. 3 is a similar view of the same unit with its cover removed;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 44 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of the electrical circuit employed in thesystem.

Various types of lighting outfits have been devised for the illuminationof Christmas trees, some being more'involved than others. In the onesthat have come to my attention the matter .of connections is a problemwhich deals with miscellaneous parts and complications, so that theinstallation of the system is both involved I have therefore departedfrom the practice of the past by designing a system which is simplyconstituted, easily handled and installed and has a high factor ofsafety.

In accordance with the foregoing, specific reference tothe drawingindicates the suggestion of a Christmas tree at III with a trunk or mastat II and an electricalservice outlet at I2 in the vicinity of the tree.

For the Purpose of the present invention, I have provided two connectorunits of identical construction, these being indicated at I3 and I4. Oneof these units is shown on an enlarged scale in Figs. 2 to 4 and is inthe nature of a shallow circular box having an internal vertical openingI5 defined by a wall I6. The latter is somewhat shorter than the outerwall of the box and receives a circular plate II by means of nails I8 orother suitable fastening means. The plate is of spring metal and has amarginal series of deflected blades I9.

The box I3 is of rubber, composition or other insulating material, andreceives a similarlyshaped cover 20, the latter being secured by nails2! or other suitable fastening means and also being made of insulatingmaterial. The cover is formed with a series of perforations 22 over therespective blades I9.

The wiring for the light bulbs 23 primarily employs a standard cord 24containing conductors 25 and 26 and having a conventional plug 21 at oneof its ends for application to the current receptacle I2 in the mannerindicated in Fig. 1. The cord 24 is divided into branches 28 and 29 forthe continuation of the conductors 25 and 26, one branch being ledupwardly along the side of the tree It and the other downwardly to apoint near the floor. Each of the branches 28 and 29 ends with a plug 30whose stem 3| has a rounded end 3Ia and is of a diameter to be slidablethrough one of the perforations 22 in the box cover 20.

The box or unit I3 is impaled on the upper end of the trunk or mast IIor on a convenient tree branch in that,region, while the unit I4 isplaced on the floor. through a convenient perforation 22 of the unit I3,while the lower plug is similarly applied to the unit I4. In each case,the insertion of the plug causes its stem 3| to bear down upon andfrictionally engage the corresponding blade I9, as clearly shown in theleft-hand portion of Fig. 4. This action both secures the plug firmly tothe plate I1 and forms an electrical contact with the same. At a pointhandy to reach the cord branch 28 has interposed in it a-small switch32.

In some Christmas tree lighting installations the cord for a string oflight bulbs is formed with the same in series, a suflicient number ofbulbs being used to properly apportion the supply current for eachstring of'bulbs. I employ the same principle, each string of bulbs beingdefined by a cord 33. The cords 33 have terminal plugs 34 of a designidentical with the plug 30 previously described, and the application ofeach cord 33 to theunits I3 and I4 is by inserting the terminal plugsthereof into selected perforations 22 of the. correspondingly locatedunits, as shown in Fig. l.

' With the arrangement constituted as described, the electrical circuitindicated in Fig. 5 is established. Thus, the cord 24 may be consideredas the main one, and its branches 23-and 23 as feeders to charge theplates ll of the units I3 and I4 as opposite poles in the circuit. Thus,.the application of each bulb cord 33 to bridge The upper plug 33 isinserted the plates completes the circuit for the particular string ofbulbs, and a sufficient number of perforations 22 are had for as manybulb cords 33 .as are'apt to be used for the lighting of the averageChristmas tree. Thus, the outfit forthe entire tree can be installed ina few minutes.

It will be evident from the above description that I have provided atree lighting system which is planned alongsimple, logical and safelines.

Thus, it is self-evident that the main cord 24 "is applicable to thecurrent outlet, and that. its

for this purpose. Thus, with the switch 32 open 7 the units l3 and M aswell as any bulb cords 33 applicable thereto are entirely devoid ofelectrical energy and are perfectly safe to be 'handied, changed aroundor' otherwise adjusted. Further, the arrangement of the perforations 22makes it self-evident that when the feed plugs have once been appliedthe application of the bulb cord plugs 32 follows in succession orparallelism to the extent of the number of bulb cords desired to beused. There is thus no'tendency to twist, cross or otherwise complicatethe layout of the bulb cords, as these are separate from. each other inorder of rotation. For this reason only brief instructions are necessarywith each outfit to enable any person to install the system. At the sametime, the latter is inconspicuous, since the conductor cords run betweenthe tree branches and leaves, and the connector units I3 and H are onaccount of their comparatively small size and out-of-the-way locationspractically concealed from view. Finally, it will be apparent that theunits and parts employed in the system are simple and of a nature to bemanufactured at very small cost by conventional production methods.

While I have described the invention along specific lines, various minorchanges and refinements may be made without departing from the principleof the invention, and I desire to consider all such changes andrefinements as coming within the scope and spirit of the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. A tree lighting system comprising a pair of boxes placeable at spacedpoints along the tree, an electrical contact plate in each box, a seriesof receptacles for each box and affording access to the contact plate,companion leads of a current supply connecting with the contact platesby way of correspondingly-located receptacles, and strings ofseries-connected light bulbs bridging the contact plates by way of othercorrespondingly-located receptacles, the boxes being ring-shaped forfacility to mount them on tree branches, the plates being similarlyshaped, and the receptacles being in circular series to distributeaccess to the plates.

2. A tree lighting system comprising a pair of boxes placeable at spmedpoints along the tree, an electrical contact plate in each box, a seriesof receptacles for each box and aflfording access to the contact plate,companion leads of a current supply connectingwith the contact plates byway of correspondingly-located receptacles, and strings ofseries-connected light bulbs bridging the contact plates by way of othercorrespondingly-located receptacles, the boxes being ring-shaped forfacility to mount them on tree branches, the plates being similarlyshaped,

the receptacles being in circular series to distribute access to theplates, the leads and light bulb strings terminating with plugs in theregions of the contact plates, and spring blades extended marginally ofthe contact plates at points opposite the plugs, said blades beingengageable and tensionable by the plugs.

ALVIN A. QUAN'DEE.

